Ming Dynasty: Traveling through the harem, Zhu Yuanzhang was dumbfounded

Chapter 175 Japan has a rebellious heart

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't waste any words and asked directly:

"Mr. Teng, it is like this. Ever since the Crown Prince's three strategies achieved certain results in Zhenjiang Prefecture, they have been promoted throughout the country. All officials are in a state of crazy internal competition. I just want to know, do you think this internal competition is good or bad for the current Ming Dynasty?

Apart from this, I also vaguely heard from my subordinates that the six ministries of the imperial court now have clear division of labor. Why are there people complaining that these six ministries are in name only?
Does anyone have any objections to our desire to promote the establishment of a new Daming Public Service Center at the grassroots level?

As the Minister of Personnel, you must understand the needs of grassroots officials better than I do. Today, you can tell me what the conflict of interest is behind this. "

After hearing this, Teng Yi almost felt as if several bolts of lightning flashed through his mind, making his scalp tingle.

My goodness, he was asked to answer these life-threatening questions right at the start. There is no doubt that if any of these questions were asked outside, they would be life-threatening.

Unfortunately, he, the Minister of Personnel, couldn't escape it for the time being.

How to hide?
There were only four people present, three of whom were representatives of the royal family, and he was the only one representing all the officials of the court.

After a moment of silence, Teng Yi finally figured out how to answer and then slowly spoke:
"Your Majesty, I think the internal competition among officials is naturally a good thing for the people. Since the reform of the official salary and reward and punishment system, I can see with my own eyes that there are fewer corrupt officials. I am not shielding those officials who are still corrupt, but compared to the past, the number of corrupt officials now is only one-third of the past.

It is obvious that the corrupt officials before did this because they could not survive. Your Majesty implemented the three strategies of the prince and implemented the reward system. Those honest and upright officials had hope of survival, and they were naturally willing to dedicate everything for the Ming Dynasty.

Moreover, when Your Majesty was willing to implement this policy, weren't there many officials who were willing to step forward and admit that they had made mistakes?
All these ministers remembered that after they received the punishment they deserved, they not only did not resent Your Majesty or the Ming Dynasty, but they also worked hard to find ways to return to their own positions.

Nowadays, there is a trend in the court to work hard. Some people work four hours a day, but some people are willing to go home later for the sake of performance. Some people work five or even six hours.

They do this for two reasons.

First, according to the policy formulated by Your Majesty, as long as you can spare extra time to handle government affairs, the extra time can be distributed as an extra salary at the end of each month.

They are willing to do so for money.

Second, to complete your Majesty's current affairs better and earlier, they will have the opportunity to be promoted at the end of each year. Compared with the previous system, the enthusiasm of those young people is much stronger than that of an old man like me."

"In short, the prince's three strategies are definitely policies that benefit the people in this internal conflict."

Teng Yi answered with almost a wry smile.

As the Minister of Personnel, he knew best how clear the changes had been since the new salary system was implemented in the Ming Dynasty officialdom.

There are already many ambitious young people who want to enter the officialdom, and the current policies are in line with their wishes.

As for those old guys who originally wanted to sit and wait for retirement, they were forced to get up and work seriously.

If you slack off even a little, you will be surpassed by those who come after you.

At present, many officials have had their official positions and salaries reduced because they were not "hard working" enough.

The highest rank is the first grade.

From the first rank! This high-ranking official who was impossible to be removed in the eyes of others was actually dealt with mercilessly by Zhu Yuanzhang.

This is enough to show how determined Zhu Yuanzhang was this time, and it also proves that Zhu Yuanzhang was not just talking or pretending, but really wanted to let all officials know.

Anyone who dared to slack off while working in the Ming court would be dismissed.

Why has the Ministry of Personnel been so busy in the past month?
Isn't it because they need to run around in mobilizing officials that all the officials of the Ministry of Personnel stationed in the capital feel a headache at the end of the day?

But they dare not stay, because if they do, scabs will take advantage of the situation and swoop in. These scabs are all people whose families are short of money.

For the sake of money, they don't even care about their own bodies. As long as they can get paid for working, they will work their hearts out.

The old guys represented by Teng Yi couldn't say anything to the other side, so they had to swallow their anger.

"continue."

Zhu Yuanzhang did not express any attitude towards Teng Yi's answer, but let the other party continue.

Not knowing the emperor's mood, Teng Yi felt a little nervous for a moment, but he mustered up his courage and dared to continue speaking.

"As for the complaints from the six ministries, these voices do exist. As Your Majesty said, they are related to the Left Censor-in-Chief Yang Chen who is away from the Censorate. He is the young man who initiated the reform in Zhenjiang Prefecture."

Just as he had heard, Zhu Yuanzhang frowned slightly, feeling a little confused, and asked the reason.

"Why?"

Teng Yi, who noticed that Zhu Yuanzhang was unhappy, hesitated whether to continue.

After observing Zhu Yuanzhang out of the corner of his eye and finding that Zhu Yuanzhang was indeed unhappy, he decided to speak the truth, otherwise he would be the one who would suffer.

"That's right, Your Majesty. Yang Chen trained a group of retired soldiers in Zhenjiang Prefecture and asked them to form the Daming Mass Service Center. He said that this new department was created to handle matters that the local government could not handle.

At the same time, these retired soldiers must be taught to read and write, and be responsible for His Majesty's will, so that they can inform the common people of His Majesty's true will.

In my opinion, this measure is a bit fanciful and will easily cause conflicts between the local government and them."

The more he spoke, the less confident Teng Yi felt. There was nothing he could do because he really didn't dare to say anything more.

Sure enough, Zhu Yuanzhang's reaction quickly confirmed Teng Yi's own inner thoughts.

Old Zhu suddenly took a step forward and asked with an unhappy look:
"Why is that? Don't they want the people to know what I said? Or does someone here have a problem with me?"

Zhu Biao, standing by, also wanted to stand up and talk to his father at any time to prevent his father from doing something he would regret because of excitement.

Teng Yi quickly opened his mouth to defend himself.

"No, Your Majesty!

That's right, the six ministries have their own branches in every government office, and those who can serve in these places are all literati without exception.

As the saying goes, when a scholar meets a soldier, it is hard to explain why.

The Daming Mass Service Center is composed of retired military personnel. If this is the case, the people in the six ministries are worried that working with this group of rough people in the future will lead to some unnecessary misunderstandings. If the explanation is not timely, some conflicts will inevitably break out. If blood is shed at that time, I am afraid it will not end well. "

After understanding the simple meaning behind this, Zhu Yuanzhang immediately felt unhappy.

"Nonsense! What's wrong with being a rough man? Wasn't the Ming Dynasty conquered by rough men? Don't forget that I, Zhu Yuanzhang, was also a rough man at the beginning. Now I have become the emperor of the Ming Dynasty and stabilized the situation between the Han people and the Mongols. Doesn't this prove that rough men are much better than these coquettish literati?"

Teng Yi below could only nod his head repeatedly in response to Lao Zhu's words, not daring to say anything more.

He knew very well what kind of character this self-made emperor had.

If you are not careful, you might end up being tortured.

In order to live well, he can only obey the other party without violating his principles.

The present moment is a good example.

Zhu Biao, standing aside, couldn't bear to see his father's reaction like that, so he quickly stepped out to say something.

"Ahem. Father, what Minister Teng said is not without reason. In the eyes of those Confucian scholars, conquering the world is their job, and governing the world is their responsibility. If the army interferes, for them, it means that the court does not trust them."

Military men conquer the country, and scholars rule the world. This is a very normal thing for many people.

Not only Zhu Biao thought so, but also Old Zhu. However, Zhu Yuanzhang always felt that something was wrong, but he didn't know how to say it.

If Yang Chen were there, he would definitely refute Zhu Biao's perception.

It is true that military men can conquer the world, but it is a complete paradox for scholars to rule the world.

Since ancient times, as long as literati stay away from the masses, in the end, it will be this group of literati who will bring disaster to the world.

To be precise, once anyone who governs the world becomes alienated from the masses, the country will not be far from collapse.

It's only right that he was overthrown by his own people.

It was impossible for Zhu Yuanzhang to vent his anger on his own son, so the one who would suffer would be Teng Yi below.

"Don't think that I don't know what these two-minded guys want to do. My eyes are not so presbyopic that I can't see clearly what people are thinking.

Biaoer, that bastard Yang Chen told us.

The more the enemy wants to support something, the more we must oppose it; the more the enemy wants to oppose it, the more we must support it.'

Don’t these civil officials want the army to go to the local areas to spread our words? We must let the army go to the local areas to spread our things, otherwise they will not know who is in charge of the Ming Dynasty! "

After the words fell, Teng Yi was stunned at first, and he almost couldn't recover.

What does it mean? The more the enemy agrees with something, the more we should oppose it, and the more the enemy opposes it, the more we should agree with it. This sounds a bit weird, but it actually makes some sense.

"Your Majesty just said that this statement was made by Yang Chen, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Metropolitan Censorate. I remember that this guy seemed to be no more than 30 years old, or even in his early 20s. How could he come up with such a reasonable statement?

How strange! How strange! Could it be that he is the reincarnation of the sage Duke of Zhou?"

All kinds of doubts began to arise in his mind, making him feel confused.

Indistinctly, Teng Yi, a Confucian scholar who had read thousands of books, felt that he could exceed the dynasty's lifespan of a hundred years, but he lacked the ability to comprehend.

Just as he was thinking, Zhu Biao's voice suddenly rang out.

"Father, the reason why many ministers are dissatisfied with the Daming Mass Service Center is that they think retired soldiers are all rough people who are not worthy of the knowledge learned by scholars.

Fortunately, Brother Yang has developed a method to teach soldiers to go from being illiterate to being ordinary people who can master 500 words. I believe that when those literati and officials see that soldiers can also learn to read and write, and even write words that only the four treasures of the study can write.

We are all scholars, so we have no right to be dissatisfied. What do you think, father?"

Zhu Biao's unique insight directly allowed Zhu Yuanzhang to discover the loophole from another perspective, just as Zhu Biao said.

The special views of literati on military men often appear when the country is stable. Since they look down on military men because of their pride in mastering writing, Zhu Yuanzhang shatters their pride.

Let them see that a rough person may not be worse than them in writing!
"Okay! What Biao'er said makes sense, Mr. Teng, you heard it, right? What do you think of what my son said?"

After coming back to his senses from his thoughts, Teng Yi looked a little embarrassed, but he quickly adjusted his state and nodded repeatedly, agreeing with what Zhu Biao said.

"I think what the prince said is absolutely right."

Teng Yi, who thought he answered very seriously, was seen by Zhu Biao as being very perfunctory. However, Zhu Biao did not expose him, but instead offered a suggestion.

"Minister Teng, for the sake of follow-up communication, I wonder if you have time to accompany me to Zhenjiang Prefecture in a few days to see how Yang Chen teaches the soldiers to read and write?

I'm sure you'll agree with his idea after seeing Junwu master the ability to read and write."

Since the reform began, Zhenjiang Prefecture has become the talk of the town in Beijing. Unfortunately, every official is busy with internal affairs and simply does not have much time to visit this place in person.

This has become a regret for many officials.

Even if they could get close, they could only watch from afar and were not allowed to get close.

Otherwise they would be expelled by the troops stationed nearby.

This made many officials in the capital scratch their heads, wondering what was going on in Zhenjiang Prefecture, where they could hear huge roars from a distance at all times.

However, no one dared to approach. Without Zhu Yuanzhang's order, these officials could only discuss it after dinner and did not dare to put it on the table at all.

Now that he had a chance to get in, Teng Yi immediately nodded and agreed.

Afraid that Zhu Biao would return.

"Your Highness, if you can take me in to learn the secrets of literacy, I certainly won't refuse!"

As he spoke, he was unaware that a barely perceptible smile gradually appeared on Zhu Yuanzhang's lips on the stage.

"We already know everything we want to know, Mr. Teng. Actually, it's your turn to come here today because I have something very important to say."

Entering the topic, Teng Yi restrained his joy and said to Zhu Yuanzhang with a serious expression:
"May I ask what your majesty wants to hear?"

Zhu Yuanzhang did not answer immediately, but picked up a beautiful silk book.

The so-called silk book is paper made of white silk that can be used for writing. Generally speaking, only powerful countries are willing to give such items as gifts to others.

Of course, there were also some countries that hoped that their host country would give them help for certain things, so they wrote silk books and sent them to their host country.

The silk book in front of you was given to the Song Dynasty from Japan.

That’s right, it’s the Song Dynasty.

The contents of the silk book are as follows:

Emperor Go-En'ei of Japan, with deep fear and trepidation, bows his head and says to His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Song: I am humbled by the fact that the heaven is high and the earth is vast, and your imperial grace is boundless, shining upon the four seas and benefiting all nations.

Our country, Japan, is located in a remote area in the eastern part of the sea. We have long admired the great virtues of China and have been thirsty and hungry for its culture.

We have had an unbroken relationship of friendship since ancient times. Now I am sending an envoy to present tribute as a token of my loyalty.

Here are the tribute items, which are listed on the left: 1. Several gold articles, all of which are exquisitely made by our country's skilled craftsmen. They are shining and brilliant, and are presented to Your Majesty.

2. Several pieces of silverware, flawless white and exquisitely crafted, which I would like to add to your Majesty's use.

3. Pearls and agates are dazzling and are all mined from the deep sea. They are rare and precious, so they are specially presented to you for your enjoyment.

4. One hundred rolls of Japanese cloth (note: a specialty of Japan), which is soft, colorful, and finely woven, and will be used for Your Majesty and the royal family's clothing needs.

5. The swords and knives are the soul of our warriors. They are extremely sharp and gleam with cold light. They not only represent the bravery of our country, but also serve as a guard for Your Majesty.

6. Several boxes of lacquerware, with simple shapes and exquisite designs, are both practical and ornamental, and I hope they will add elegance to your Majesty's court.

7. Seafood delicacies, such as abalone, kelp, etc., are all taken from the deep sea. They are delicious and nutritious. We hope they can add color to your Majesty’s royal meals.

8. Our country has some special medicinal herbs that can prolong life and strengthen the body. We hope to help Your Majesty stay healthy and live forever. We are well aware that these small things are not enough to repay Your Majesty's kindness. However, although our country is small, we also have the desire to be civilized. We are willing to pay tribute every year and establish friendship forever. We hope that Your Majesty will appreciate our sincerity and accept our tribute. I am very worried. Now I send an envoy to present a memorial and tribute together with the tribute. We hope that Your Majesty will make a wise decision. We wish Your Majesty good health, prosperity of the country, peace in the world, and happiness of the people.

We are sending the Venerable Huiran to present a memorial and tribute to Your Majesty, hoping for Your Majesty's wise judgment. We, the ministers, wish Your Majesty good health, prosperity of the country, peace in the world, and happiness for all the people.

(End of this chapter)